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Wilmington fast-food workers join national protest against low wages

The News Journal
Published 11:06 p.m. ET Dec. 5, 2013

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Joe Harris, 36, who has worked at the Wendy’s on Concord Pike for more than five years, protested for better wages in front of his place of employment on Thursday.(Photo: JENNIFER CORBETT/THE NEWS JOURNAL)Buy Photo

Delaware fast food workers joined their colleagues around the country on Thursday, taking to the streets to send a message to their employers: "Super-size our wages" because "we can't survive on $7.25."

About 100 people outside of Wendy's on Concord Pike near Wilmington held signs and repeated chants calling for $15 per hour and the right to form a union without retaliation from their bosses.

The message, which began being voiced in New York City about a year ago, is getting louder and gaining the attention of local officials, clergy members and advocates.

Thursday, the number of participating cities doubled in size to more than 100.

In Delaware, on the sidelines of the fight for a living wage stood a 10-year-old girl with a message. Lucila Jimenez held a neon yellow sign that read, simply, "My Mom needs a raise."

Lucila stood with her mother, Sara, a single mother of five who works at McDonald's on 4th Street in Wilmington. The pair were on the front lawn of Wendy's during the strike action, organized by DE Fast Food Forward.

Jimenez said her shifts are not consistent, and when she's not raising her children she's working for $7.75 per hour.

"The money that I make now can barely pay the bills," Jimenez said.

Her corporate employer, meanwhile, said it's providing opportunities.

Lisa McComb, spokeswoman for McDonald's USA, said in an email that the company offers employees "opportunities to succeed."

"We invest in training and professional development that helps them learn practical and transferable business skills," McComb said.

Similarly, Wendy's said in a statement, "We give thousands of people who ask for an entry-level job the opportunity to learn and develop important skills at our company and franchise restaurants, so they can grow with us or move on to something else, or another career.

"We offer compensation that reflects an employee's skill and is competitive in the marketplace. Furthermore, nine of out 10 Wendy's employees make more than the current federal minimum wage" of $7.25.

The problem, says Ezra Temko, of the Delaware Chapter of Americans for Democratic Action, is that many fast-food employees are not teenagers or young adults embarking on their careers – they're parents trying to put the next meal on the table. Two-thirds of the core working force in the $200 billion dollar industry are adults, he said.

Less than 1 in 5 are younger than 19 and living with a parent, said Temko, "and frankly, that doesn't reflect who is working at these places, and it doesn't reflect our current economy or job opportunities."

In Delaware, more than 11,200 residents clock into a fast-food restaurant for work for a median wage of $8.57, according to Julie Blust of the 32BJ SEIU Mid-Atlantic. That's not enough for a Wilmington resident to afford the basics, the group said.

But the entry-level jobs are not always meant to be held by the sole bread winner of the family, said Carrie Leishman, president and chief executive officer of the Delaware Restaurant Association, reached after the rally.

"They are there to offer entry-level opportunities," Leishman said. "For those people with families, they need to look to help further their education. ... The people who have families are getting on that ladder and moving up in the industry, or looking at what it takes to move up and out and into higher paying industries."

By the numbers, 13 percent of the segment is receiving health benefits from their employer, 30 hours is the average work week and 52 percent rely on some type of public assistance for themselves or their families, making them twice as likely to require government aid than other workers, Temko said.

"Low wages not only hurt the workers here in Wilmington, they hurt our community and slow down Delaware's economy," said Wilmington City Councilman Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha.

"These workers aren't just speaking out for their own wages, they're sounding the alarm for all of us," said State Rep. John Kowalko, D-Newark South. "This is a burden on every taxpayer in the country and it's an unfair burden hoisted on these workers – but also it's not a burden we should place on our taxpayers and the economy."

In most cases in Delaware, Leishman said, the positions pay more than minimum wage and offer appropriate pay for the amount of skill and education. The jobs are vital to teenagers and attract the elderly and those looking for flexible work hours, she said, and by design teach personal responsibility and a strong work ethic.

Leishman went on to say the "protests are largely orchestrated by national labor groups looking to drum up their dwindling memberships.

"The bottom line," she said, "is the restaurant industry is a bright spot in the state's economy."